When Colbert came back from commercial break, he was not behind his desk as usual. “Here’s the thing, folks,” Colbert said. “I was going to be over there talking just now tonight, but we have some very late-breaking news I think we should do from here because if I had done it, it would be in the monologue.” He then admitted: “I’m not entirely sure what I’m about to say.”

Despite not rehearsing the material, Colbert managed to land a couple of jokes, including, “This can only mean one thing — Dennis Rodman is going to get the Nobel Peace Prize!”

But since Colbert was winging it, he was bound to make some mistakes, such as repeatedly flubbing his lines when trying to make a crack about fixing America first.

The flubs stayed in the show because, as Colbert put it, “This is how the sausage is made!”